Gateway Cycling » Club News » Rule of six.

Rule of six.

Hi Gateway members,
As you’re probably all aware, the law regarding meeting in groups changed on Monday as part of a strategy to limit the upsurge in Covid cases in the last week or so.
As these laws and guidelines are complex, we have been influenced by British Cycling who stated in a recent communication:
‘For your ride-specific questions, as I say we are still waiting to see the exact guidance, however our understanding is that our current guidance for Club rides will be unaffected by the new changes. This means that they will still be capped at six riders, and that you should avoid congregating in groups of more than six (ie. by staggering start times and café stops).’
It seems that we might have been sailing close to the wind up until now. re. cafe stops etc. However, I think we now need to stick to the letter of the law which means not appearing in public in groups larger than six and that will include Orsett, Bulphan and the cafe stops.
One suggestion is that we arrange groups of six or fewer by WhatsApp the previous day. Perhaps someone, who often leads a group, can say that they are going to eg. Hanningfield on Sunday, ask who’s going to join them. If the group goes over six, they can decide what groups to split up into and arrange a staggered time. It’s just doing on WhatsApp what normally happens at Bulphan in the morning.
The Wednesday ride could arrange for the normal faster group to meet at 10, middle group 10:10 etc. Again, checking on WhatsApp who is going to turn up and when, with the groups pre-arranged.
These are suggestions guys. You can organise as you like but the bottom line is that it needs to work, be within the law and avoid a £100 fine. If you gravitate to more fixed groups be nice if it was included on the group WhatsApp so that we stick together as a club. Also, it would be good if we can ensure that no one that wants to ride gets left out in the WhatsApp storm.
Perhaps some photos on WhatsApp (Richard set a high standard yesterday) would keep us all in the loop as we come into autumn (eventually?) with fewer people riding and no club night.
As before these are not official club rides but a group of like-minded, consenting adults with too much money to spend on kit and bikes.
GC committee.
PS. Talking of kit, it is important for the integrity of the club that if you are wearing the jersey you are never in a group larger than six.
Philip Baker

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2 Responses to "Rule of six."

  1. Philip Baker Philip Baker says:

    PPS. As before we need to keep a record of each riding group for two weeks.

  2. Sharon Phillips says:

    Thanks Phil. There’s usually fewer than 7 riders on our Sunday recreational rides and with the exception of Jon Lane, who we keep in touch with via email, we’re all in one WhatsApp group. We’ve been recently meeting at Grays station, so I expect we’ll continue to do the same, or Blackshots.